Warwick hosts WWI workshops

The University of Warwick is marking the 100th anniversary of the First World War by hosting a series of specially commissioned workshops which will be open to the public.

The series of four workshops are designed to delve deeper into the war period and will look at various documents and artifacts from the conflict.

These workshops will be held at Warwick’s Centre for Lifelong Learning (CLL).

Dr Will Curtis, director of the Certificates programme at the CLL, told the Coventry Telegraph: “We are really excited to be offering this series of workshops to mark this nostalgic anniversary. The Certificate programme offers a vast selection of subjects including History, English Literature, Child Psychology and Film Studies.”

Dr Stuart Jennings, coordinator for the series of the workshops added: “1914 will always be memorialised across the UK. Most families have their own personal history of the war and 2014 will be a year in which many will seek to fit these into the wider context.”

The first of the workshops, ‘Records from the Great War, 1914-1918’ will look at material obtained from record offices, newspapers and the well-known Imperial War Museum.

Students will then be introduced to the work of a number of artists in ‘Painting the Great War’. This workshop looks at how artists depicted the events of the war, with a session on how war art was collected after the First World War.

The workshop ‘Ode to a rat’ will take a look at how war poets are traditionally viewed.

The ‘Animal Farm: humans and animals in modern European history’ will give students an insight to how animals were used in the Great War, with a concluding discussion on George Orwell’s famous novel Animal Farm.

Edward Biondini, president of Warwick’s HistSoc expressed his delight with the commemorative workshops: “These workshops are a fantastic means of commemorating the centenary of World War One. They seek to ameliorate the historical curiosity amongst both Warwick students and members of the wider community, exploring such a pivotal part of peoples’ lives, family histories and the patriotic fervour of our nation.”